Research by Norwich Union has found that nearly two thirds of all final salary related pension schemes are looking at increasing the retirement date on the scheme to reduce costs.
They also said that 1% of schemes had already done so and another 2% had made the decision to do so.
Our view
Final salary pension schemes are expensive as they offer the member a guaranteed pension figure at retirement. Irrespective of poor investment performance or lower annuity rates making the cost to buy a members pension at retirement more expensive, it still has to be done.
It is no surprise that employers are looking to reduce the cost burden by extending the retirement date. If you still have one of these schemes then you are still lucky - even if you have to work on a few more years.
We expect more and more employers to close their final salary schemes. If yours keeps theirs then be grateful.